Abolitionist Reverend John Butler founded Luther Place Memorial Church in 1873, envisioning it as “a memorial to God’s goodness in delivering the land from slavery and from war.” The sandstone church is the only known surviving building designed by architect Judson York and is thought to be one of the oldest surviving Gothic Revival style buildings in the city. Washington, D.C.’s first African American Lutheran pastor was ordained at Luther Place in 1886. During the1968 riots following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Muslim community physically protected the church and volunteers while the congregation sheltered, fed, and clothed 10,000 people. Luther Place became a leader in supporting the unhoused in the 1970s when it founded N Street Village, the city’s first residence program for women without stable housing. In 1991, the congregation added a fourth floor to its parish hall to accommodate  a 31-bed, nightly shelter that ran continuously every night until 2021.

Luther Place continues its support of neighbors near the 14th Street corridor and N Street Village, now an independent nonprofit. In addition to founding and running the Steinbruck Center hostel, the congregation operates the ArtSmart summer camp, which was founded in response to unmet needs of Spanish-speaking neighbors. For five weeks every summer, the congregation provides programming meant to nurture creativity through art, gardening, music, and other activities while also providing regular healthy meals, a wilderness retreat, and educational trips around the city. Additionally, Luther Place shares space with the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, the Washington Interfaith Network, and Ward 2 Mutual Aid Group.

A National Fund grant of $321,608 with equal matching funds raised by the congregation will support preservation of the church tower including replacing gutters, flashing, copper, and broken slates on the octagonal spire.

Photo by Chelsey Christensen